


Millennial Rose

by BurningPeace



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:14:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningPeace/pseuds/BurningPeace
Summary: A long time has past.  Team RWBY became heroes, then history, and finally legends.  The darkness was defeated, and Remnant lived in peace, finally able to take to the stars.  In the years that have passed, Humanity and Faunus alike have flourished, to the point that the Hunters have faded into the analogs of history.  But history has a habit of repeating itself, and the darkness is beginning to creep in once again.  The people are in need of their heroes once more.





	1. The Pilot

* * *

"There's too many of them!"

"We have hostile reinforcements, inbound!"

"Where did they coming from?"

"What are they doing here?!"

"Oh god, look at the size of that thing!"

Countless panicked voices shouted over the radio, downing each other out. The chain of command was broken, and all that remained was fear. Explosions flickered in the distances as the voices in the radio dropped off, one at a time.

'Time of peace, my ass,' Ruby Rose thought from her cockpit. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be a simple lesson, training recruits the basics of space combat, in the middle of human controlled space. Hell, this area was supposed to have been cleared of raiders for generations. So how had it devolved to a desperate fight for their lives?

Black Beowolf fighters poured out of an equally black behemoth, hunting down the white fighters that the students flew. These kids were supposed to be the best of the best, earning top marks on their simulations, but they had never seen a second of true combat. They were sitting ducks out there, exposed from every angle, with no hope for surviving.

Suddenly, Ruby's radio cut out, silencing all the shouting and replacing it with calming white noise. After a few moments, words cut through the static. "Demon, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here captain."

"This battle is lost. All other instructors have been shot down. The Grimm caught us completely off-guard. The Signal isn't getting out of this."

"Don't say that. We just need to get the rookies together. We can jump to the next sector, where the Beacon is waiting."

"That last shot from that Drake class blew out our jump drive. Half the ship is sealed against decompression, and the hanger is filled with more wrecks the crewmen. Signal the retreat and get out of here, while you still can."

"No." Ruby's voice was cold and level, leaving little room for argument.

"Demon, this is not the…"

"Dad, I won't leave you."

"It's too late, little Rose."

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE, DAMN IT!" Ruby snapped, shouting into the mic. "You're the one who taught me that. So I'm not leaving, not until every one of these black bastards are blasted from the stars."

"Demon…" the radio cut out as Ruby switched back to the open channel.

"This is Demon. All fighters, report in."

"MS. ROSE, HELP!" The cry carried on for a second, before cutting out, accompanied by a flash of light in the distance.

"Demon, this Talon 1. Raptor and Eagle flights have all been shot down. I'm the last one still up from Talon. Falcon 2 and 3 are the only other ones with responding coms, but I can't get a hold of either of them… I think we're all that's left."

'No,' Ruby thought. 'No, this can't be. We left the hanger with over 40 students and 10 instructors, how can that be all that's left? We haven't even been space-born for 10 minutes.'

"Demon, this is Talon 1… I found Falcon 2 and 3..."

"Talon 1, what is your position?"

"Ma'am, they weren't shot down…"

"Talon 1, tell me where you are!"

"The ships are empty, Ma'am. Where did they..."

And then the radio fell silent. Nothing but static roared in Ruby's ears as she watched a brief flash in the distance. All her students were gone. They were her responsibility, and now they were dead.

And she sure as hell wasn't about to let that slide. With a flick of her wrist, a halo-map of the battlefield deployed on her dash. Before her, a small cluster of about 10 red dots flying in arrowhead formation advanced on her. It was an effective formation for space combat. Essentially two wedge formations stacked perpendicular to each other, it applied the tactics of an older era to the much more maneuverable vacuum of space. It was the conventional formation of modern space combat and would work well against any average pilot.

Shame Ruby wasn't an average pilot. "Alright Petals, let's see how those modifications treat ya," Ruby muttered to her ship while flipping a series of switches. Quickly, the heat sinks in the tail end of her fighter kicked up, and optical camouflage activated around her hull. She became a ghost, one that shortly would seek vengeance for her fallen charges.

"Computer, detach all training blanks from the spacecraft, and prepare the under-wing particle accelerators. Disengage safety restraints, and prepare attachment 4A."

"Warning: attachment 4A has yet to be tested. Command approval required," an electronic voice called out in response to Ruby.

"Override, Thus Kindly I Scatter."

"Override accepted." A small buzzing could be heard, as inside Ruby's control handles a pair of small devices turned about to face Ruby's palms. "All systems are prepared for combat. Switching auto repair functions on. Good luck, Ms. Rose." Then the electronic voice cut out, leaving Ruby in an eerie silence.

With a quick flick of a switch, Ruby turned her radio back to the secure link to the bridge. "Demon to bridge, preparing to engage enemy."

"Demon, disengage. I don't care if you're not military, I don't care how good you are. You cannot stop that thing alone. So I am ordering you, as both your father and superior, abandon the battle zone. Rendezvoused with the Beacon, and contact Ozpin. You know what needs to be done."

"I never said I would stop them," Ruby replied calmly. "I'll buy you time to steer the bucket of bolts to where the Beacon can hear our distress signal. You can tell Ozpin what happened out here yourself. Besides, I get to test out my new toy."

"Demon, please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means."

Ruby didn't reply. Instead she throttled forward, rocketing towards her targets. As she drew closer, she called out, "Computer, on my signal, shut down all stealth programs. Transfer all computing power to auto-repair and countermeasure functions… Now!"

Instantly, her camouflage dropped, and she opened fired on her unsuspecting prey. Strafing as she fired, she pelted the lead ship and the two to its left. Briefly, the first two cockpits lit up, before spiraling out away from the formation. The lead ship even collided with the one below it, tearing both ships apart almost instantly. The final ship on Ruby's list noticed the attack, and attempted to swing away from the incoming shrapnel and prepare a counter attack. Unfortunately for them, Ruby still managed to clip one of the under-wing missiles. As Ruby shot by the 7 remaining ships, they each attempted to get a lock on her. As they armed their missiles for combat, a sudden explosion sent more debris rocketing into space, as the damaged missile destroyed the fighter before its pilot even truly saw Ruby's ship. With Ruby now behind them, the remaining ships engaged their three-dimensional engines, swinging themselves about to give Ruby chase.

As Ruby watched the ships come about, a small smile came to her face. Now was the time to test out her new toy. She closed her eyes briefly, and allowed the warmth of her heart spread throughout her body, reaching from her toes to her fingertips. When she reopened her eyes, she was encased in a soft red glow, and the test equipment she had activated began its work. Slowly, her entire ship became encased in the soft glow, causing it to stand out in the black of space.

That is, until it disappeared yet again, leaving nothing behind but a few red specks that lightly drifted through empty space. Her pursuers attempted to give chase, until they realized there was nothing left to case. This wasn't stealth, the ship was simply gone.

Suddenly, a flurry of red shot by, and two more ships disappeared in brief balls of flame as their oxygen ignited. Another shot of red, and another two ships. Finally, one of the black ship's pilots noticed that the red left behind wasn't just engine exhaust. They were petals, left to drift through space. That was when the third streak shot by.

* * *

"Demon to Signal, come in Signal."

"Demon, this is Signal. Good job taking care of that flight. I guess we can consider your aura drive a success."

"I guess we can. Have you escaped the battle zone yet?" Ruby replied, secretly relieved that her Dad's voice was still there to reply to her.

"I'm afraid not Demon. While you dealt with that squad, they had a stealth flight attack our engines. We're dead in the water. I've ordered the abandon ship, but most the escape pods have been lost in various explosions. The bridge has all agreed to stand to the last man, to give the students on board a chance…"

"Dad, no, there must by some way. There must be some way out of this! I can come back for you, I can…" And explosion cut Ruby off, shaking her entire fighter as it did.

"Ruby? What was that? Are you still there?!" Her father's concerned voice called over the radio.

"Yeah, I'm here. Computer, what the hell was that?!" Ruby replied, annoyance edging her voice.

"It appears that the main engines have blown out. Despite the assistance of the test attachment 4A, it appears that the engines were unable to maintain our high speed."

"Estimation until auto-repair completion."

"Auto-repair impossible, heat of engines has melted surrounding casing."

"Ruby, I'm getting the diagnostic here. You're not making it back here. Not now. Just go. Get a hold of the Beacon and let them know what happened."

"Dad, no, I can't leave you…" Ruby replied, tears starting to build up in the corners of her eyes. "Not after Mom. What will I tell Yang?"

"Tell her I love her. And you. Both of you are my lights in this dark world. So go out and live. Go out and find love. Find the happiness that I had with your mother. And always remember, I'm so proud of both of you. I love you."

After that, Ruby wasn't sure what happened. An alarm started to blare over the radio, and panicked voices called out in the background. The final 'I love you,' was the last clear thing Ruby heard, before the radio cut out completely, accompanied by a brief flash of light. But Ruby couldn't bring herself to look about. She couldn't force herself to look back at the destruction she was sure was there. All she could do was keep moving forward.

* * *

"Blake Belladonna, where do you think you're going?!" A concerned voice called out.

Blake froze, one leg resting on either of the stone wall. She had been so close. So close to escaping for a few hours of silence. Anything to get away from the damn orphanage for some peace.

"What, you think you could get away from this madhouse, and leave me here alone?" Velvet said idly as she jumped up next to Blake. A small smile adorned her face, one that Blake matched when she realized just who it was that had caught her.

Velvet Scarlatina, the one good thing about Blake's life so far. She was the only other Faunus at the orphanage, and had become fast friends with Blake. They looked out for each other, protecting one another from any prejudice that should arise, not that that was a common occurrence. Faunus standing was better than it had been centuries ago, but there was always those holdouts that refused to accept that everyone had every right to keep existing. But times were looking up. The other day, some boy they didn't even know had stood up for them. Sure, he was a klutz, and a bit goofy, but the fact that he was willing to defend them had meant more to the both of them than he would ever understand.

And now here Velvet was, brushing her brown hair aside as she walked up to Blake, her heels clicking with each step on the paved walkway.

"You know how it is, Velvet," Blake said to the rabbit Faunus. "The young ones get rowdy, and the head-bitch gets on my ass to straighten them out. They've never listened to me before. Why would that change now?"

"Oh, you know that's not true," Velvet chided her part cat companion. "They all look up to you. Blake Belladonna, the hero of Verterre orphanage, defender of the defenseless. The one who singlehandedly drove off a hoard of vicious bandits."

"Stop, you know that's not how it happened," Blake sighed, having long since grown tired of this story.

But Velvet kept right on going, leaping to the other side of the wall as she did. "Isn't it now? All I know is that you went out on your own to face the bandits terrorizing our little settlement with nothing but that weapon your parents left you, and came back without even a scratch. The bandits, on the other hand, haven't shown their faces around here since. If that doesn't make you a hero, I don't know what does."

Blake smiled lightly as she jumped down beside her friend, resting her hand on Gambol Shroud as she landed. Even if it was a dangerous weapon, it was a family heirloom, and it felt right to have it on her. After all, it was all she had left to remember her parents. "It was nothing big. I told them to fuck off, and they did. End of story."

"Blake, you really need to watch your tongue. I know we're outside the orphanage, but we're literally only 5 steps away. The kids could hear you."

"Sorry, sorry. If forgot, we've got to protect those innocent ears as long as we can," Blake chuckled, walking past Velvet and down the path toward the forest. They both felt more at peace there. A place to escape the worries of daily life. A place where they could just be themselves, instead of the role models they needed to be.

They walked in silence for a bit, abandoning the path almost as soon as they reached the wooded area. It was not problem, as they both had a near perfect sense of direction. Not a benefit of being Faunus, just out of years of practice walking out in these woods late at night.

The woods around them seemed to come alive at night.  The trees had taken to the soil well after being transplanted from a neighboring colony.  Thick green leaves rustled above them, with the occasional pine or spruce tree scratching again their counterparts.  A few puddles remained on the ground from the previous night's rain, the iron in the ground turning the water a murky red.  Small animals wove through the underbrush, fleeing from the two Faunus as they enjoyed their stroll.

"Hey Blake," Velvet asked, breaking the silence. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"I mean, what are we going to do now? You just turned 18, and I do next week. You know that the orphanage doesn't keep anyone over 18."

"So, we still till the end of the year," Blake shrugged. In truth, she already had plans. Big plans. She just wasn't sure Velvet was ready for them. She wasn't sure the rabbit Faunus would be ready to leave this life behind. To abandon the only world they had known. Blake was going to follow her parent's footsteps. She was going to be a Hunter.

The only problem with that was that no one believed in the Hunters. No one believed in the defenders of old. The heroes that had stopped Remnant from falling into a new dark age. They used to be the greatest warriors that ever lived, but that was when the human and Faunus races only lived on one planet. Now-a-days, they were nothing more than a legend. A story told to children as they were tucked in at night.

Or so people thought. But Blake knew better. She knew the Hunters were will out there. Somewhere, protecting the innocent. They hadn't be lost to the flow of time. No, they had just adjusted, fitting into the role where they were needed most.

Blake had been training for a long time. She had developed the skills needed to survive in almost any environment. She had the endurance to run at top speeds for almost 4 hours. She even had the strength and muscle control required to handle her notoriously complicated weapon.

And almost any moment she wasn't training, she was in the local library, connected to the planetary net. She read anything she could get her hands on related to the Hunters in any way, be it classical stories or military aircraft specs. If she could find it, she had read it.

The only thing she was lacking in was combat training. Sure, she had driven off those thugs, but that had been almost too easy. One fool rushed her clumsily, and she just flipped him. No one was actually hurt, and no weapons were drawn. They just left, muttering something about having to find a new mark.

"Blake? Yoo-hoo? Anyone home?" Velvet asked, waving a hand before Blake's eyes.

Blake blinked back into reality, blushing as she realized she had lost herself in thought. "Sorry Velvet, you just got me thinking."

"See, I knew you had plan. Trying to brush me off like it was nothing. I know you better than that," Velvet scolded with a light smile. Blake sighed lightly, knowing the Velvet wasn't the type to back down once she made her point. No, she was going to drive it home until Blake told her the truth.

"Alright, you caught me. You see…" But Blake trailed off, looking up through the canopy above. "What the hell…?"

"Hey, don't try to change the subject," Velvet cut in.

"No really, what the hell is that?" Blake asked, pointing up through the tree tops. Velvet followed her finger, and gasped as she spotted the massive fireball sailing through the sky.

"Oh no, it looks like a ship! Someone's crashing!" Velvet gasped, panicking for the person she didn't even know. She spun about to face Blake. "What are we going to do?"

"Run back to the town," Blake said, not taking her eyes off the burning ship. "Tell them what's happening. And to send help, we don't know who's on that ship, or what kind of situation they're in."

"But what about you?" Velvet asked, concern crossing her soft features. "Don't tell me you intend to…"

"Someone needs to be there if they need first aid. You never know what might happen." Blake said setting off in what seemed like the right direction.

"But what if they're dangerous?" Velvet pressed, concern for her friend evident.

"Don't worry," Blake called back as she started to run. "I've got it covered!" She gave Gambol Shroud's handle two quick pats before taking off at full speed, leaving her friend behind.

The ship hadn't landed far from Blake's orphanage, less than an hour run for her. Of course, running that far through the dense woods would take most people in town at least three hours to cover, but if the person need any immediate help, at least Blake would be there.

Blake slowed to a walk as she came up on the crash site. It appeared the pilot had some skill, and managed to maneuver the ship around manually, despite their crash course. They had prevented the ship from nose diving after they entered the atmosphere, and most like saved both their life, and the life of everyone within a mile radius.

As Blake drew closer to the downed ship, the smell of wood smoke filled her nostrils. It appeared that the crash landing had started a small forest fire. No surprise there, considering how the ship had made its entry. She made a mental note to make sure that the fire didn't spread, but first she had to assure the pilot survived the impact. And even if they had, they more than likely needed help. Not many people could walk away from a crash like this without a scratch.

Finally, she entered the newly created clearing where the ship had come to rest. A long path stretched out behind in where it had torn the earth to pieces, and a number of trees lay cut in two. Not broken, cleanly cut. A small trail of metallic parts littered the woods, coming up on the actually wreck. It appeared to be a fighter, but Blake had never seen a fighter like this before. Nothing about it followed regulation. The engine was mostly gone, but Blake could still tell that it wasn't anywhere near military specs. No, it was far, far more powerful. On top of that, it had particle accelerators under the wings as opposed to the usual plasma generators, while completely abandoning any missile systems. And that was completely ignoring the fact that, somehow, these wings had managed to stay attached despite crashing through a few dozen trees. As to how, Blake wasn't entirely sure, but that might have had something to do with the visible edge that gleamed along the front of the wings. Likely the same edge that had logged the path out behind them.

Slowly, she made her way to the cockpit, almost afraid of what sort of person would pilot such a strangely altered ship. But as she climbed atop the smoking wreckage to get a good view inside the cockpit, she was faced with yet another shock.

Nothing. There was no one in the cockpit. The first thing she noticed was that the side of the glass was blasted outward, which was in and of itself a feat, considering the conditions that cockpit glass was designed to withstand. The second thing she noticed was the severe lack of blood. The cockpit was in shreds, almost as if someone had taken a hammer to most the consoles. Yet despite that, she couldn't see a single spec of blood. She couldn't smell any either. And that could only mean one thing.

"How the hell could the pilot walk away after all this?" Blake asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. And she definitely wasn't expecting the sound of round being loaded into a chamber to greet her as she jumped down from the wreckage.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" A voice called out.

* * *

"Who are you?" Ruby demanded the strange girl. She looked like a normal enough Faunus, even if she hid her ears beneath a bow. She had long black hair, reaching down to the middle of her back, and the clothing to match. She had a simple black jacket with the sleeves rolled up and relaxed black pants with a single purple stripe, hiding the athletic body that Ruby knew was there. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten to the middle of nowhere so quickly, or jumped up onto her ship with such ease.

"My name's Blake," the girl said, her hands in the air as she slowly turned to face Ruby. "Look, I'm not out here looking for trouble. I saw your ship here during re-entry, and I thought you might need help. Obviously, I was mistaken…"

"Yes, you were. What system am I in?" Ruby continued, not wanting to waste time.

"The Piax system. Vytal Federation," Blake replied, hands still in the air.

Ruby sighed as she heard that, and lowed Crescent Rose. She never thought she would have to bring out both her new toys in the same day, but hey, life is full of surprises. The firepower test had proven successful when it had blown out the cockpit window, but she wasn't yet prepared for human tests. Not on an innocent girl. Ruby glanced up again, seeing the girl start to relax, but slowly reach for the hilt of a weapon over her shoulder. A very familiar hilt…

But before Ruby could continue that thought, a sonic boom sounded out, causing both women to look up at the sky once again. Once again, a fireball was arcing across the sky. The only difference was, this time, there was no trail of smoke billowing behind it. This time, the entry had been completely intentional.

"Shit…" Ruby said under her breath, but she didn't miss the bow atop Blake's head twitch.

"Friends of yours?" Blake asked hopefully, but her voice gave away the fear she was feeling. She knew the truth, even without being told.

"Nope. Looks like they found me. Listen, I want you to run away from here, as fast as you can. It's about to get ugly. You look to be in pretty good shape, even by Faunus standards. I bet you could probably make it to the next town within the hour right? Go get the guard. The army. Whatever it is you have, go get them, because it's about to hit the thrusters."

Blake froze as soon this strange girl called her a Faunus. She didn't remember mentioning anything of the sort, and she was wearing her bow, so how the hell did this woman know?

In the back of her mind, Blake realized that this woman was giving her an order, telling her to get the guard from the nearest town. But that wouldn't work. They were a small colony, not a century has past since the terraforming. The closest thing they had to a planetary guard was the AA tower located in the center of the main settlement. An AA tower that apparently need to be re-calibrated.

So rather than run off into the woods, and leave this girl alone, Blake walked up beside her, drawing Gambol Shroud as she did.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Blake said lightly, "but I'm the best you're going to get."

"Is that right?" Ruby said without looking away from the descending ship. "In that case, the name's Ruby. Good to meet you Blake. Hope we have a chance to actually get to know each other…"

Blake glanced at the girl beside her, wondering what had brought about such a comment. Was whatever was following her such a threat that she didn't think they would both make it out alive?

Blake took this moment to actually look over who she was going to be fighting with. Whoever she was, she didn't appear to be any older than Blake. But she stood with such confidence that one could easily mistake her as an older woman. She had short black hair, ending in dark red tips. Much like Blake, she appeared to have an affinity for the color black, as she had been wearing a black flight suit with two read strips, with its arms now tied around her waist. For a top she was wearing a skin tight black shirt with red sleeves stopping just past the shoulders. A shirt that seemed fit to burst at the seams as the woman slung her rifle over her shoulder, her muscles rippling with every movement. Blake found it hard to tear her eyes away from the very picture of fitness that stood before her.

"What sort of weapon is that?" Blake called out, honestly curious. "I've never seen a rifle like that before."

"And you never will again. Crescent Rose is a one-of-a-kind multi-stage sniper rifle," Ruby called out as she jumped up on her fighter, with almost as much ease as Blake had. With a flick of her wrist, Ruby managed to lift the cockpit canopy, reaching what looked like a red cloak that she fastened around her shoulders before jumping back off the frame. "Designed her myself, just like Scattered Petals here," Ruby said with a loving pat on her downed ship. "Now let's get set up, they're going to follow the smoke here, and I'd rather be ready for them than caught by surprise."

"Who is this 'them', anyways?" Blake pressed, following Ruby as she began to walk towards the tree line.

Ruby never stopped walking, just looking over her shoulder with a very serious expression. "The Grimm, of course."

* * *

'Holy hell,' Blake thought as she gazed out from her hiding place. 'She really was being chased by Grimm…'

Sure enough, a small group of black clad figures had entered the clearing shortly after the fireball in the sky had fallen beneath the canopy. Three of them now scrambled over the black and red frame of the fighter, all hoisting weapons Blake had never seen before. A fourth was scanning the area around the crash, but they had yet to look in Blake's direction.

Each of them moved strangely, as if a couple had backwards knee joints, and the others had no knee joints to speak of. One even skittered about on all fours, moving far too quick for Blake's taste.

The last thing Ruby had said to her before vanishing into the woods still echoed in Blake's mind. "I'm going to get some high ground. That mountain over there," Ruby had indicated with a nod of her head, "should get me up high enough to see down into the clearing. I'll be there, and I should be able to handle anything that walks in with Rose here," Ruby had finished, patting the weapon the rested on her back. "You, on the other hand, are to stay close by. That weapon you've got there looks like it specializes in quick strikes at close quarters.  Don't force yourself though. Your job is to just make sure no stragglers get away. Honestly, I should be able to get them all, but if one does escape, a single cut to anywhere on the suit should take care of them. This is a nitrogen based atmosphere, right?" Ruby had asked, earning a nod from Blake. Ruby grinned lightly at the acquired knowledge. "Completely toxic to them. Anything that isn't at least 80% oxygen is deadly, and were going to use that to our advantage. So stay low, and wait for me to make the first move. Any stragglers are yours."

She had made its sound so simple. Yet here these, things, were, skittering about on all fours or awkwardly bobbing as they took each step. This was nothing that Blake had prepared for. The Grimm weren't supposed to be this deep in Federation controlled space. Hell, they weren't even supposed to be on this side of the galaxy. She had expected space pirates, or even a Mistral invasion before she ever expected to see aliens.

Suddenly, a rough hand grabbed her shoulder, and threw her through the tree line into the clearing. Blake rolled as she landed, drawing her Gambol Shroud as she did. She faced her attacker, her eyes gleaming and her grip tight. Slowly, a massive figure in the same black suit as the rest entered the clearing. On its shoulders rested bright yellow pads, probably suggesting a position of command. But all that mattered was they had exposed Blake, and she was surrounded on all sides. And there was no way Ruby was in position yet. She had left less than an hour ago, and Blake estimated that mountain to be a kilometer away.  Ruby could have made the run, sure, but following it with a climb on unfamiliar terrain would take far longer. Blake could do it, but not some off-world human. No, Blake was going to have to do this on her own.

Or so she thought. It was at that precise moment that the domed helmet the commanding Grimm wore shattered, accompanied by the thud of gunfire a distance away. 'How the hell…' Blake's mind began, but was quickly interrupted as she was forced to block a swing from a strange weapon the Grimm carried. Through the tinted black dome, Blake could almost see the angry red eyes that she knew were there.

Thinking quick, she spun about, taking out the legs of her opponent with a swift kick, and drawing the katana blade of Gambol Shroud from its sheath. With a quick flick, she used the sheath to deflect the blade the downed Grimm carried, and plunged the katana into what she assumed was the Grimm's chest. A high pitch screech filled the air, but that quickly died off, and the Grimm fell limp. Rising up, Blake watched as two more Grimm fell to Ruby's sniper attack. But that was all Blake could see. There had been 5 Grimm in total, but only 4 had been downed.

As if to answer her question, a tight arm wrapped around her, and pressed a blade to her throat. 'Damn in!' Blake swore internally, realizing her mistake. She had grown lax thanks to her easy victory, giving one of the backwards jointed beasts an opening, and it was about to kill her. Was this how her first real battle was to end? The Grimm started yanking at her to out of the clearing, using Blake as a shield facing towards the mountain Ruby fired from. Blake wasn't about to get any fire support.

It was at that moment that a streak of red shot by Blake and her captor. Blake wasn't fully sure what happened, but suddenly, the grip on her slackened, then fell away all together. There were two distinct thuds, and Blake turned about to see the head of her captor rolling away from its dissolving corpse. Petals scattered outward and the smell of smoke took to the air once more, as the rumors she had heard about these aliens proved true. And just beyond them, stood Ruby, with a red scythe resting on her shoulder, a few scattered rose petals drifting about her, and a faint red glow emanating around her. A faint red glow that could only mean one thing. Something that took Blake's breath away.

"You're a Huntress?"


	2. The Runaway

"What's a huntress?"

Weiss Schnee started at the tiny voice suddenly drifting up from her knee. She looked down to see a small child tugging on the fabric of her flowing white sun dress, innocent eyes staring back up at her. Weiss smiled gently before kneeling down next to the child, reaching eye level with her.

"Well, that's a long story young one. But first, where did you come from? Did you follow me all the way from the care center?" The young girl nodded at Weiss's question, looking slightly away in fear of being punished. Weiss just shook her head and chuckled, amazed at the innocence of childhood. "Well then, let's head back there, and I'll tell you all I can about hunters and huntresses, alright?"

The child nodded excitedly, and grasped Weiss's hand as the platinum haired girl stood up again. Slowly, they began to walk back the way they had come, Weiss's heels clicking as she paced herself to the rushed strides of her small charge. "So tell me, what's your name?"

"Sapphire," the girl responded, proud of her name. She gave Weiss a toothy grin, which Weiss returned lightly.

"That's a lovely name. I see your parents followed the old way of naming, just like mine."

Sapphire nodded excitedly, and gripped Weiss's hand tighter in recognition of their similarity. But when she turned her eyes on Weiss again, that question returned. "What's a huntress?"

"And where, Sapphire, did you hear a word like that?" Weiss asked, mildly surprised the girl knew it at all.

"Mrs. Lavender said that you were like a huntress, and we should be like you," Sapphire responded honestly.

"Is that so?" Weiss asked, her heart warming a bit at the comment. She had just stopped at the child care center a short while ago to see how the children of the city were faring. It was just part of her daily routine anymore, but never before had a child followed her out afterwards.

"Miss Weiss, are you a huntress?" Sapphire asked again, big blue eyes gazing up at her as they walked.

Weiss had to fight from laughing out loud at the comment. But while she succeeded at that, she failed to suppress the chuckle that escaped her lips. "No, little one, I'm not a huntress. There have been times I wished I was, but I'm not. Huntresses and huntsmen were warriors long ago, people with special talents who protected others."

"So they were a guard?" Sapphire inquired, confusion evident in the tilt of her head.

"Sort of, but not really. They had a guard back then, called the police, and they had soldiers, but hunters were something different all together. Do you know what Grimm are?" This earned a small nod from the child. "Well, back on Remnant, the birthplace of man and Faunus, there also used to be Grimm. But they weren't Grimm like we know them today. They were animals, like bears, and wolves. They couldn't walk upright, and they couldn't speak at all. They were vicious, angry things that only attacked people because they could."

Weiss could see she was scaring the child, so she ended the description of the Grimm there. She could have gone on and explained the even more terrifying Grimm that existed, be it Drakes or Death Stalkers, Nevermores or Night Watchers. She could have told Sapphire about how the Grimm had trapped man in four large cities, tiny by today's standards. But that wasn't what Sapphire was asking about.

"But then, one day, the hunters came along, powerful and wise. They stood up against the Grimm, and you know what? They were winning. They had the Grimm right where they wanted them."

"Did something happen?" Sapphire asked, curiosity etched into her voice.

"Unfortunately, yes. One day, bad people came about, and started attacking people, and stealing Dust. Dust was what made the world of Remnant go round. It powered everything before we discovered how to harness the power of the suns. Now, anywhere the light touches, we have power. But back then, they needed Dust to stay alive. Otherwise, all the technology they had would stop working."

"But why would people steal that? Why didn't they share?"

"No one really knows," Weiss sighed. "There are stories that people could use the Dust to do magical things, bend space around them, but that's just the stories. All we really do know is that the bad people really wanted it, and were led by an evil woman, named Cinder."

"Cinder of the Flames?" Sapphire asked, suddenly well informed.

"Well, yes," Weiss replied in shock. "How do you know that name?"

"She was in a book I read," Sapphire replied, looking thoughtful. "Cinder was beautiful, but she was really mean to everyone, so no one liked her. And that made her really sad and even meaner, making people like her even less."

"I don't know what book you've been reading, but that's right. Cinder hurt a lot of people to get what she wanted. She attacked the City of Vale, and burned most of it to the ground. But that was when the hunters stepped in."

"Did the hunters make her nicer?"

"No, unfortunately, they couldn't do that. But they did something just as important. They protected the people. Despite all of Cinder's evil henchmen attacking, and despite burning the city like she did, she was stopped, and most of the people were saved. There are a lot of stories on how that happened, but there is one thing that most people agree on."

"Team RWBY!"

"That's right," Weiss beamed, not at all surprised the girl had heard of the famous team before. Most children's books were based around the team of old, even if they weren't always identified as huntresses. "Four girls, known a Team RWBY, lead the charge against Cinder. They made sure to save anyone that needed help, and they stopped Cinder from hurting any more people. They became heroes, and they made sure that the hunters stood for the people. And in return, the people loved team RWBY. It was because of them and the hunters that the Vytal Federation was born. What remained of the City of Vale teamed up with the City of Vacuo."

"What were their names?"

"Whose names, sweetie?" Weiss asked in confusion.

"Team RWBY's. You said there were four of them."

Weiss sighed, realizing she should have expected this question was coming. "No one knows. Most of the records from that time have been lost. The fact that we know about Team RWBY at all just shows how famous they were together. But separate, we have no idea."

"What happened to them?"

"No one is really sure. After their time as heroes, they faded into obscurity. There used to be statues of them, but even those have faded with time. Now, we don't even know what they looked like, let alone how they did what they did. But we do know one thing. They instilled the code of the hunters, the code that all good boys and girls should follow. Do you know what it is?"

Sapphire nodded before dutifully reciting, "No one is truly a stranger. Care for those in need, and protect those who need protection. And never look down on or judge others, no matter who or what they are."

"Very good," Weiss praised, surprised the girl had actually memorized the code at such a young age. Most people didn't even teach it anymore, despite the goodwill that naturally comes along with it. But, that wasn't any of Weiss's business. "Now, can you tell me what that means?"

The excitement in Sapphire's eyes died a little bit, and she nervously looked at her feet. "It means be nice to people you don't know. Like my mommy says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

"That's a very good way to put it," Weiss said gently, smiling down at Sapphire. "That's exactly what it means."

Sapphire seemed to accept the praise, smiling lightly as she skipped along beside Weiss, hand still tightly clasped in Weiss's. After a short while, she spoke up again. "Miss Weiss?"

"What is it Sapphire?"

"Do you follow the hunter code?"

Weiss was slightly taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered. "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Then why do you carry around a sword?"

And sure enough, Weiss had Myrtenaster at her waist, held in place by a special magnetic clip, the tip of the blade enveloped in the folds of her dress. Instinctively, her free hand dropped to the rapier, lightly gripping the handle.

"That's because…" Weiss started, but then stopped, not sure how much she should tell this child. "That's because it's a family heirloom. All the way back from before the times of Team RWBY. It's mine by right, given to me by my sister, but people want to take it away from me."

"But why?" Sapphire asked, big eyes staring up at Weiss with some mild confusion.

"Because I disagree with them. Because I won't bend to their way of thinking. You see, they don't follow the hunter code. They will hurt anyone that gets in their way. So, I took Myrtenaster and left. One day, I'll go back, but right now, I'm happy here." Weiss smiled down at the young girl to reassure her, hoping to show that she really was happy. Which, in all reality, she was. Ziben was a beautiful colony of the Vytal Federation, and filled with wonderful people who truly cared about one another. She saw Faunus and humans, coexisting like they did in few other places of the galaxy. It truly was a beautiful thing.

Slowly, they came up on the building that housed the daycare. The building that Weiss made a point to visit, each and every day. Just seeing the faces of all these happy, innocent children reminded her of why she was here. Why she was going what she was doing. The innocence she was protecting. The innocence she lost far too early.

* * *

Going into hiding wasn't easy, especially with her family involved. The Schnee family conglomerate held the largest stake of power in the Atlas Corporation. The country that had become a business. Where the people they protected became nothing more than workers, only useful for as long as they could raise kids, fight or construct mechs to preform manual labor. As soon as they couldn't do that, they were 'purged.'

Such a life should have been easy for Weiss. Her family had all the power. She should be in a position where she couldn't be touched. But her status hadn't changed the fact that she had been a child. A child who had been curious, and had wandered outside the safe walls of the Schnee compound and witnessed the horrors of the real world first hand. She watched as a man was dragged out of his home, his hand wrapped in a cast and a small girl standing behind him, screaming. She wanted her daddy. She wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to know why.

What Weiss wanted to know was why the 'Atlas Officials' had turned around and shot the girl without a second thought. She wanted to know why the man stopped fighting as he watched his daughter's body fell to the ground. She wanted to know why the officials then turned about and shot the man. She wanted to know why they had left the man writhing on the ground as they walked down the street. She wanted to know why, when Weiss had rushed to his side, hoping to do anything she could to help the dying man, and he had simply smiled at her. Why he had whispered, "Thank you, young miss," then stopped moving.

And she wanted to know why no one had ever told her before what the gunshots she had heard all her life had meant. People that her family was in charge of, people that depended on the Atlas Corporation to protect them, they were nothing more than slaves. Slaves that got dragged out in the street and shot because they were deemed 'parasites' while they recovered from the injuries received while preforming their immensely dangerous job. And any child that had lost both parents to this nightmare was considered 'useless pests,' and put out of their misery.

From that day forward, Weiss looked at the world with new light. She watched closely as her family ignored all the horrors occurring just outside the walls. She listened through closed doors as her own father approved of ever more dangerous operations, hoping to increase his already immense wealth. She repeatedly felt the sting of his wrath when she openly questioned his morals. And she was scarred by that same wrath when he discovered he could not break her.

The long, vertical cut over her left eye throbbed as she found herself thinking back to the day she had finally stood up to her father. The day she had finally left his shadow. Not even the day before, her older sister, Winter, had come up to her, and whispered something very important.

"I'm leaving this hell. I suggest you do too."

And she was gone. Vanished without a trace. Or so the family thought. But Weiss could see the path. Winter hadn't abandoned her. She had paved the way. The way small things were disturbed. A picture frame, placed face down. A painting, pushed to a slant. A key, suddenly appearing on Weiss's dresser. And the family sword, Myrtenaster, the single piece presented to the next head of household, disappearing from its place on the wall.

The family was so consumed with the missing sword, they hadn't noticed the small details. They didn't know about the crooked painting of the rustic cabin the family no longer used, deep in the woods. They missed the picture of Weiss and Winter, standing before their beloved speed cycles after a race. Speed cycles that Winter had submitted to the shop for 'adjustments.' And they didn't notice Weiss, as she walked up to her father, and slapped him.

Weiss didn't quite remember how it went, as emotions had commanded the moment. All she could remember was yelling at her father, telling him that this was his fault. He hadn't said a word, staring at her with cold eyes as he calmly backhanded her, sending her spinning into a wall. A wall that held a separate decretive sword. A sword that slipped from its holdings, and fell across Weiss's eye.

Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said after that. The family watched, uncaring as Weiss got up, wiped blood down her sleeve, walked to her room, and left through the window nearly as soon as she slammed the door. Never once did she look back. And she doubted anyone thought to search for her at that point.

When she reached the cabin, Winter was long gone. All that remained was Weiss's speed cycle, specially modified for deep space travel, a note, and a long, wooden case. The note simply read "This will do better in your hands than mine. We will meet again Weiss. Remember, I love you. Winter." Without even opening the case, Weiss knew what it contained. And she knew what it meant. If Winter was giving Weiss Myrtenaster, it only meant Winter trusted Weiss. Trusted her to do the right thing. And when the time came, to use Myrtenaster to take her place at the head of the family, and end their family's reign of terror.

* * *

Weiss exited the day care, content for the time being having returned Sapphire to the proper place. What had happened with her family, and all the darkness she had experienced since that day would just have to wait. Right now, she was content helping the people of Ziben, even if all she could do was small, menial tasks.

Weiss's scroll buzzed, causing Weiss to look to her wrist. A small band lit up, projecting all the caller information available on Weiss's forearm. Upon seeing who it was, Weiss sighed. It was never a good sign when he called.

"What do you want, Mercury?" Weiss asked as soon as she answered, already fed up with the man.

"Damn, is that any way to greet me? After all I've done for you?"

"Don't take credit for something that has nothing to do with you. Your father took me in after he heard what happened. You, on the other hand, keep trying to capitalize on his kindness."

"Well, when you put it that way," Mercury replied, audibly shrugging. "Anyways, my family is having a get together tonight, and seeing as you're a guest of the household, it's only fair that you're the first to know. Nothing too fancy, just some dancing and drinking. You know how these things go."

Weiss sighed before replying. This was the third 'get together' this week. This boy seemed unable to go a day without hosting or attending a party. "I doubt it, but we'll see. Thanks for letting me know. If there is nothing else, I'm going to get back to my rounds now."

"Why even bother? You do know we have a planetary guard, right?"

"You know damn well why. Seeing as there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."

The scroll made an electronic clicking noise as Weiss ended the call. With an annoyed shake of her head, Weiss continued down her path, occasionally looking at the sky as she walked. It had been 5 years since she had run. 5 years she had been hiding out from the thugs her family had sent after her. 5 years of not knowing how long she could stay in one place.

Twice, she had almost been caught. One had been nearly 6 months into her 'escape.' Thugs had tracked her to the small settlement she had been hiding out on. No one in the settlement had even known she was there, let alone who she was. So when large men showed up one day, and started interrogating everyone they saw about a girl with white hair, questions had been raised. That was, until one of the men had started dragging her out of a barn by her hair. If it hadn't been for some boy Weiss didn't even know stepping in, she would have been carted back to her family.

As it was, that was the first day Weiss had drawn blood. In a panic, while the men were distracted by the tall Faunus boy, she had drawn Myrtenaster and swung about wildly, having no clue how to properly wield her rapier. But somehow, she had managed to catch one of the men in the throat, the narrow edge of her blade slicing across the jugular. The man had died at her feet. After that, the other two thugs had run off, muttering something about not being paid enough for this job.

After quickly thanking her savior, Weiss had escaped the planet on her speeder. She had spent two more years on the run, but she refused to make the same mistake twice. For those two years, she trained with the rapier, using every resource she could to improve her skills. The planetary net, a slew of training videos, and a lot of self-help had carried her a long way.

So when she had seen two mercenary ships enter the atmosphere of her supposedly uninhabited planet, she was ready. The small squad of four had exited their ships in a lax haze. Weiss wasn't even sure if she should kill these men. Until one of them had mentioned 'finding that Schnee bitch' and getting off the 'hellhole' on which they found themselves. After that, Weiss had no qualms planting Myrtenaster firmly in each of their spines. They never saw her coming, and paid for it dearly.

After that mishap, Weiss made sure to avoid abandoned planets. Her speed cycle's signature exhaust became far too easy to track on planets with no traffic. So she had jumped from colony to colony, never staying in one place for more than a month, according to the galactic calendar.

That was, until a man had recognized her. He had come up to her, cautiously, as if he was afraid she would bite. Then he had said her name. Weiss had nearly pulled Myrtenaster on him right then. Only two groups of people knew her name, and both of them were more than happy to have her dead.

But he surprised her. Quickly, he introduced himself as Mr. Black, the governor of a planet called Ziben, and that he was there for a planetary meet. He had recognized her from a wanted poster her parents had apparently felt the need to put out for her. But then he went one step further, and offered her a home. It was a guest house of his family's but he had insisted she take it, saying "No child should ever have to face this world alone. If your parents won't take up the slack, I will."

And he had. Anything Weiss could have needed, he provided. Food, shelter, clothing, schooling, trainers, all of it. Thanks to Mr. Black, and her natural ability to quickly pick up new skills, she had come to master the rapier even further, become proficient in hand to hand combat, and mastered the basics of dozens of dialects that had popped up since the expansion into space. She still had yet to learn what the revolving chamber in the hilt of her blade was used for, but she felt she was getting closer by the day.

But there was in thing Mr. Black couldn't do. One thing he couldn't give her. Winter. No matter where he looked, no matter how long he searched, Winter was nowhere to be found. All he had learned was he wasn't the only one searching for her. Apparently, Winter had just faded from existence, going to a place where neither Weiss nor her parents could reach her.

And so that had become Weiss's life. Between training and searching for Winter, Weiss had little to no time for herself. And whatever time she did have, she patrolled around town, gazing at the sky, fearing the day she would see the telltale streaks of forced re-entry.

That was no way for an 18 year old girl to live. She as supposed to be enjoying those parties, laughing with friends, and making mistakes. But thanks to her family, she was an outcast, without any real friends, and terrified of cloudy days that blocked her view of the sky.

With that thought in mind, Weiss looked up once more, and her heart sank. Of course, just as she had been thinking about it, she would see the one thing she feared. Three massive fireballs, cutting across the sky. She could tell just by their size and their angle that they weren't heading for the port of entry. They were coming straight for her.

* * *

Yang swore as she sprinted through the streets. People streamed past her as they ran away from the chaos that was slowly gripping the town. In the distance, smoke billowed over buildings, and the sounds of energy weapons could be heard over the screams of the terrified populous.

She had hardly walked across the town's boarder when the three massive fireballs had crashed into the city center. Several buildings had provided significant cushion to prevent the ships from turning the enter city into a smoking crater, but that did little to comfort Yang. There had been people in those buildings, and whoever these men were, they cared little for the lives they had just ended.

Yang had watched the entry, and had noted that the unexpected guests had flown in on two large transports, escorted by what looked like a Knight-130 fighter. And that could only mean two things.

One was pirates. Of course, they could have to be fools to attack any planet in a Vytal Federation core system. Even if they had the cloaking technology to slip past the safety net of turrets around the planet, and the luck that the inner atmosphere defenses were down for maintenance, they would still have to deal with the standing guard. So that ruled out all but the most moronic pirates. The second option, however, was not something Yang enjoyed thinking about.

The second option was that these were trained mercenaries, either from the Atlas Corporation or the Mistral Planetary Alliance. Mercenaries that she had been hoping she would beat to the punch. Because if they were here, then that meant it was more than likely a certain runaway was as well. And if that was the case, Yang needed to find her before the mercenaries.

Finally, Yang broke through the throng of people, only to be greeted by three thugs brandishing intimidating plasma rifles. 'Welp, that answers the 'who' question,' Yang though as she continued to run. Only the Atlas Corporation had the funds to give lowly mercenaries such high tech weaponry. But that gave Yang the advantage. Because the mercenaries were always well armed, they never gave close combat much thought, figuring their gear would solve the problem before it reached them.

Oh how wrong they were. Without even yelling at Yang to stop, the thugs brought up their arms and opened fire. Rolling at the last possible moment, Yang avoided the initial volley, gaining another few meters upon her targets before they could compensate for her movement. And that few meters was everything. Yang's roll had placed her behind one of the many abandoned food carts. One that she promptly flipped, sending various fruits flying through the air.

Each of the thugs had been following Yang's every moment. And while they had yet to hit her, she wasn't about to escape their watchful eyes. That was, until various fruits had begun to batter them, courtesy of the blonde. Briefly distracted by an apple striking him square between the eyes, the mercenary closest to Yang closed his eyes, staggering back a step. He never got the chance to reopen them, as Yang was upon him in that instant. A quick uppercut sent the goon spinning away, unconscious.

Before the man even hit the ground, Yang made her move on the next mercenary. She delivered three quick blows to the man's chest as her rounded on her, knocking the air from his lungs. While he gasped for breath, Yang grabbed the rifle at the base and twisted, yanking it from his grasp. Now armed with state-of-the-art tech, Yang did the one thing none of them expected. She threw the rifle at the final mercenary, catching him in the forehead with the butt of the gun with such force that his feet left the ground, and he was flung back, landing unconscious in a vender stall that seemed to be selling various meats.

Turning back to the final mercenary, Yang grabbed the man by the throat, cutting off the breath he was still struggling to catch.

"You've got three seconds. Who sent you?" Yang demanded.

Fear caused the man's eyes to nearly bulge out of their sockets. He fought for breath, kicking out his legs as the blonde lifted him off the ground. Through a series of gasps, he eventually managed to get out, "The… Schnee… Family… They…"

"That's enough, I get the picture," Yang interrupted. "So how did you find her? And why attack a Federation planet to get her?"

"Someone… Contacted us… Said they knew… where she was… And knew when… The defenses would be… Down…"

Yang was about to ask her captive who their contact was, but that was when the man made a move for his belt. It could have been anything. A blade, a gun, or even just a radio, but Yang wasn't about to take any chances. Before the man could reach whatever his goal was, Yang had thrown him against the wall of a nearby building, forcibly denting in the metal framework. The man fell to the ground without a word, eyes dead to the world.

"Never can be easy can it?" Yang sighed before taking off down the street again.

* * *

Weiss sprinted into a small square. It was one where she had been only moments ago. It was the one that the care center had been in.

And it was where the ships had come down.

Weiss rounded the corner, and felt her heart drop from her chest. There was nothing left. Scrapes of metal were strewn everywhere, glass littered the street, and a long, deep gash cut through where the building had stood, turning up cobblestone in its wake. A few blocks up, Weiss could see the smoking remains of the remains of the transport ship that had plowed through the building.

As her heart fell from her chest, Weiss felt a new emotion fill the space it left. Rage. But not at the mercenaries, not at the pilots of the crafts, not even her own family. No, this fiery rage threatened to engulf her, because this was _her_ fault. She had brought these men here. It was because she had stayed for so long. Sooner or later, no matter how hard Mr. Black tried to hide it, she was going to get found out. And it had come to pass in the worst way possible.

Then, off to the side she heard a gentle sob. When she spun about, what she saw caused relief to flow through her veins, extinguishing the build anger. In a small alley across the square, Weiss saw a group of children huddled together, a few crying, and a young white haired woman attempting to calm them. Weiss ran to their side, causing the woman to look up.

"Weiss? What are you doing here?"

"I saw the ships come down and feared the worst. How did everyone get out?"

"After you dropped Sapphire off, she went running after you again for whatever reason. But when I went after her, if found her stopped in the center of the square, pointing at the sky. And it's good she did, otherwise I would have never gotten the other children out in time."

Sapphire came running up and latched onto Weiss's leg, tears dampening the fabric of the dress around Weiss's knee. "Weiss," Sapphire cried, "what's happening? What is that?"

"Shhh..." Weiss comforted Sapphire as she crouched down next to the small child. With a gentle hand, Weiss brushed away the tears the formed in the corner of Sapphire's eyes. "We're going to get out of here. Don't worry about what's happening. I'm going to make sure your safe."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Schnee," a voice interrupted behind Weiss. A disturbingly familiar voice.

"Mercury…" Weiss growled, slowly rising to face the newcomer. Until the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of her skull.

"Oh, I wouldn't try to get up…" Mercury said snidely. "You see, my friends here have been looking for you a long time, and seeing as you basically turned down the more than generous invitation to my welcoming party for them, I had to bring them in to greet you a little bit early."

"Mercury, what have you done? Don't you see the destruction around you? Don't you see all the people you've hurt?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Mercury said darkly, clearly enjoying this. "You see, I'll get here, only to see these fine gentlemen kill you and take your sword as proof. I'll be the one that drives them off, stopping them from hurting any more people. Of course, you had to go and talk with these children, so it seems I will have to delay my rescue efforts a bit longer than I had hoped. Shame really, they really are quite cute."

Weiss snapped at that. Before another word could be said, Weiss spun about, drawing Myrtenaster from its magnetic sheath and disarming the gunman. Literally. The mercenary's eyes went wide as Myrtenaster cut through is forearm like butter, far sharper than any sword had the right to be. But before he could scream, Weiss followed through, her fist connecting with his cheek, quickly relieving him of his consciousness.

"You will NOT," Weiss growled at Mercury, pointing Myrtenaster's bloody tip at him, "touch ANY of them."

"Oh really?" Mercury questioned, playing disinterestedly with a silver scarf draped over his shoulders. His silver hair shimmered lightly as a breeze generated by the flames flowed through it. "And I suppose you're going to stop me?" Before Weiss could respond, Mercury raised his hands while the mercenary next to him took aim. "You seem to misunderstand Weiss. They don't need to take you alive. You'll be long dead before they even touch them."

Weiss watched as the gun became level with her eyes, and time slowed down as the trigger finger depressed. This was it. This is where she failed, before she ever had the chance to face her family again. Before she was able to stop their tyranny. This is where her adventure ended, before it ever really began.

Suddenly, the gunman grunted in pain, and a plasma round sailed over Weiss's head, scorching the building behind her. A child screamed, and Weiss could smell the smoke rising from her singed pony tail. But that wasn't what had Weiss frozen in shock.

Sapphire had run up to the man while none of them were looking, and was currently biting the man through his pant leg. Blood had started to leak into the fabric as Sapphire's canines dug through the flesh. Canines that seemed much larger than they had been earlier.

Weiss barely had any time to process this as she watch the gunman's attention shift from her to Sapphire. Time seemed to slow down as the barrel of the gun turned on the small child. Without even thinking, Weiss dashed forward, lunging out with Myrtenaster.

And suddenly, she was there, Myrtenaster buried through her target's chest far quicker than she had ever expected, and the light leaving his eyes. Weiss stood in confused shock as she tried to figure out how she gotten here so quickly. Shock that caused her to fail noticing the approaching Mercury Black, let alone spot the pure rage that was etched across his face.

With a savage kick, Weiss was rocketed away, shattering the spell. With a roll, Weiss came to one knee, facing Mercury with contempt in her eyes. Contempt that was easily matched in Mercury's silver eyes. "I don't know how you did that," Mercury began, annoyance evident in his tone, "and quite honestly, I don't care." Slowly, he reached down a retrieved the rifle from the fallen gunman. "All I care about is that you die here, and finally give my father something else to talk about other than how he wished that you were his own daughter. Really, it gets quite annoying."

"That's why you're doing this?" Weiss spat. "Because daddy didn't love you enough?!"

"Of course not," Mercury chuckled. "Obviously I'm doing this for the money. You see, they promised me a fair cut, and with each idiot you take down, my share only gets larger. It's a shame though, because now," Mercury paused to raise the rifle into firing position. "The fun comes to an end."

"NO!" came a tiny voice. Sapphire, standing unnoticed by the silver haired man, began pounding on Mercury's leg, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't hurt Weiss! She's done nothing to you!"

"Annoying little beast," Mercury grunted, before mercilessly kicking the small child. Sapphire flipped back on the concrete, bouncing on contact. "Learn you're place, filthy Faunus."

Weiss reacted immediately. But instead of charging Mercury, she dove for Sapphire, Myrtenaster falling to the ground. Just before the child hit the ground a second time, Weiss caught her in her arms, absorbing the blow with her own body.

"Sapphire!" Weiss shouted, cradling the now bleeding girl. Blood leaked over Sapphire's right eye, but the child looked up at Weiss and gave a toothy smile. A smile that shone with the blood of the gunman still lingering on the girl's elongated canines. A smile that was accompanied by the small wag of a tail, brushing up against Weiss's leg through the girl's skirt.

Weiss returned the smile, glad that the child still had the energy to smile at all. This was the second time in memory that a Faunus had saved Weiss. But this was the first time such a small child had put themselves on the line for Weiss. And that was something Weiss wasn't about to forget. Gently, Weiss maneuvered the child behind her, turning to face Mercury with all the defiance she could muster.

"How noble of you," Mercury sneered. "But now, you're unarmed. Shame, really. I was hoping for more of a fight out of you. Goodbye Weiss, I won't miss you." And Mercury fired.

* * *

Yang was surprised. She had fought through another half dozen mercenaries on her way to this small square, and she had only broken three windows doing it. Considering how this city seemed to be made of glass, that was a feat. Using a couple nearby building as kicking points, Yang made her way to the rooftops, assuming that the high ground would do her some good now.

So imagine her surprise when she found two more mercenaries staring down into the square, their back turned towards her. With a sigh, Yang strode up behind the two, her long hair flowing lightly in the breeze. Before either of them turned about, Yang grabbed the unaware mercenaries each by the ear, and slammed their skulls into each other. Yang was pretty sure she heard a crack as the two connected, but she was beyond caring at this point. She had passed more bodies of gunned down innocents on the way here than she ever seen before off an actual battlefield.

Just across the square, Yang could see the torn up ground where one of the transport ships had landed, pulverizing everything in its wake. But that wasn't what interested her. Below her, she could see a girl in a flowing white dress and a sideways ponytail pointing a bloody blade at two men. Behind her, a few children cowered, but were otherwise unharmed. At her feet was a man who, unsurprisingly, was missing a hand.

Yang watched as a small child broke away from the group, and proceeded to bite one of the men in his leg, causing him to misfire and blow a chunk out of the building behind the girl in white. But that wasn't what interested Yang. What caught her attention was the girl in white's reaction. In a flash, a glyph appeared beneath the girl, and she charged forward, plunging her blade into the man's chest.

'A semblance?' Yang thought, surprised by this development. That was unusual. Generally, only those with an awakened aura could activate a semblance. But the only people who still knew how to awaken an aura was…

Yang was dragged out of her thoughts as the shouts of a child caught her attention. Yang focused in again just in time to see the silver haired man actually _kick_ the small child. Yang's blood began to boil as she watched the girl in white dive to catch the young girl. Without a second thought, Yang grabbed one of the mercenaries, and jumped down for her vantage point.

* * *

Weiss blinked in surprise at the arrival of the blonde. One moment, Mercury was shooting at her, and the next a large woman stood before her. She wore a light brown jacket that hung down her back, the tail end falling to tatters. It was so torn up that one half of the jacket may as well have been gone below the waist, while the other gradually shifted to end just above her knee. Knees that wrapped in dark gray cargo pants. Cargo pants that were either far too small, or this woman had such large legs leading up to her shapely body that the pants nearly fit like a pair of old jeans. Long boots covered the cuffs of the pants, and ended just below the knee. Boots that matched the western style cowboy hat that seemed to belong to another generation.

But it wasn't the hat, the hair, or the jacket that held Weiss's attention. No, that was this woman's arms. Arms the bulged to the point that they had long ago torn the sleeves off the already damaged jacket. Arms that had a singular orange scarf tied around the right bicep. Arms that hardly flexed as she effortlessly held up a mercenary, one that was currently smoking as the plasma burned through the flesh in his chest.

"And who the hell are you?!" Mercury shouted in frustration, sick of interruptions.

"I'm someone who just watched you kick a child," the blonde looked up at Mercury, allowing him to watch as her eyes shifted from a gentle violet to an angry crimson. "So think of me as a nightmare."

Suddenly, her hair was flicking off sparks as flames traveled down the blonde locks. A soft golden glow slowly encased her as the flames started to grow larger, gradually outpacing the flames surrounding them. Yet the blonde simply grinned, as if this was an everyday occurrence. With a quick motion, she tossed her hat backwards at Weiss. "Hold on to that, Snow Angel. I'll want it back."

And then, she was gone. Well, not gone, just behind Mercury. Moving with speeds that Weiss barely followed, the blonde had run forward and flipped over him, ripping the gun from his grasp as she did. When she landed, she easily snapped the weapon in two over her knee. Sparks flew from each half a she threw them away. Before Mercury could even turn to face her, before he could start a plea for forgiveness, she kicked is legs out from under him. She looked him in his eyes as he flipped about, furious crimson meeting shocked gray. That was until she struck him in the cheek. Instantly, his eyes were blank, protecting him from the pain that was to come. With a resounding crunch, Mercury smashed into the ground, creating a small crater that shattered the remaining concrete.

Calmly, the blonde stood, rolling her shoulder as she did. "Well, that was a thing," she said nonchalantly, her eyes returning to their usual shade of violet and the flames in her hair dying out.

But when she made a step towards Weiss, Weiss took a step back, putting an arm out to keep Sapphire behind her. "Who are you?" Weiss demanded. Even if this stranger had just saved them, she was still a stranger, and right now, that wasn't the thing to be.

The blonde looked confused for a moment, before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh. My bad, I thought you would have known me already."

"And why would I know you? I've never seen you before," Weiss countered, suspicion still etched into her voice.

"Just, some things you did… never mind, just a misunderstanding on my part," Yang waved off. "Don't worry, I'll explain later. But right now, we need to go. Get up, and grab my hat and your sword."

"Go? Go where? I don't even know you!" Weiss practically shouted, growing more annoyed by the second.

"Oh, I'm Yang!" The blonde said with a smile. "Nice to meet ya! And we really need to go, before the rest of his friends wake up."

 

 


End file.
